Looking for a new Intel Processor

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Usman23

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Mar 26, 2015
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Hey,

I got an optiplex 790 mini tower and according to a bit of research from my side, it's motherboard is LGA 1155 socket and thus I'm limited to some generations of processors from intel.

My question is, which processors can I get for my PC, I currently have an i3-2120 3.3 GHz.
I think I should be able to get 2nd generation of i7 or i5 but I'm not entirely sure, hence, I came here for help and to confirm for the processors.

Another question I had in mind that, instead of upgrading my processor, would it be better if I bought a new case and a motherboard together and upgraded the processor later on so that once I have a new motherboard, I should have more variety on what I can buy in the processor lineup. Is this any good, should I go for this or should I go for upgrading the processor.

For extra details:

I use my PC quite alot for gaming and video rendering as well. That said, how much difference would I feel if I am to buy an i5 instead of an i7?

Any more details should you need to answer this question or need more explanation on the matter, I'll give it as soon as possible. Thanks for reading ;)
 
Solution
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Honestly, gaming still does not use more than 4 processor threads, but considering you said you use your pc for rendering as well, you may benefit from the extra logical cores found on an i7. Regarding the upgrade question I think you should definitely go for a newer generation processor, even something like a 4th or 5th gen i7 (so a 4000 or 5000-series processor) would grant you quite a performance boost and you can find those way under retail these days. In conclusion, for the price of a decent second-gen i7, which are somewhat difficult to come by these days, you could get a newer mobo and cpu combo and be well of for the next couple of years. I hope this helps.
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LuxNuss

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Jun 20, 2017
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Honestly, gaming still does not use more than 4 processor threads, but considering you said you use your pc for rendering as well, you may benefit from the extra logical cores found on an i7. Regarding the upgrade question I think you should definitely go for a newer generation processor, even something like a 4th or 5th gen i7 (so a 4000 or 5000-series processor) would grant you quite a performance boost and you can find those way under retail these days. In conclusion, for the price of a decent second-gen i7, which are somewhat difficult to come by these days, you could get a newer mobo and cpu combo and be well of for the next couple of years. I hope this helps.
 
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The Paladin

The Paladin

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Oct 5, 2016
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1. the dell minitower you have uses a 265W power supply. and that will limit your ability to increase your gaming experience even with an I7-2xxx series on your motherboard, and considering the cost of replacing your current cpu with an I7-2xxx cpu + power supply + video card to be able to run AA or AAA games one would consider the budget value of simply upgrading to an I5 or I7 or Ryzen 1500/1600 cpu new system.

Example I7-2600 costs 2-300$ on ebay used, your ram (default 4GB) only able to be upgraded up top 16GB of 1333Mhz DDR3 ram (8gb =100$) on a barebone Dell Moderboard made by Intel. sure you can upgrade that.... then spend 80$ on PSu and 200$ on video card... and still have a rather oldish computer.

total used +new: 200+100+80+200=580$

or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($187.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($62.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.44 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB FTW+ GAMING Video Card ($274.89 @ B&H)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $728.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-02 07:13 EDT-0400

or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($157.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - A320M-DGS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team - Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.44 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB FTW+ GAMING Video Card ($274.89 @ B&H)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $689.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-02 07:14 EDT-0400
 
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Usman23

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Mar 26, 2015
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4,510
Both the posts really helped me out to decide what should I go for, I'm still researching a bit so that I can come by the best thing I should do but the costs posted above and explanation given on the first reply really did help me sort out the differences and decide what I would be going for.

Thanks again.
 
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